Broken
by Shelecki
Summary: A prologue for Her Daughter! This take places when Casey is in law school. This story explores the abuse in Casey's relationship with her schizophrenic fiancé, Charlie. Please leave a review! TRIGGER WARNING: abuse/rape!


"Now, Charlie, I think that you should just slow down a sec. You need to think this through," Casey said.

The first-year Harvard Law student stood, watching as her fiancé, Charlie manically paced back and forth in their small home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The walls and floors shook as the heavy man stomped around. Charlie was having another psychotic breakdown.

"They're telling me I need to drop out, that bad things will happen to me if I don't!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Who? Who, Charlie? Who is telling you to quit law school?" Casey asked.

That's how she met Charlie. She met him in law school. She was a semester into her first year, while he was one semester away from graduating.

"The voices!" Charlie answered, holding his hand his ears and squeezing his eyes shut.

Casey sighed. She had hoped that Charlie was taking his schizophrenia medication. However, this most recent psychotic episode had told her that he hadn't. She wondered how the man who had swept her off her feet and convinced her to marry him could've transformed into a manic monster all in a span of one semester.

"Charlie, it's your mental illness talking. Nothing will happen to you if finish law school. You've come so far, and I'd hate to see all of your hard work go to waste," Casey told her fiancé.

"Shut up, Casey! Just shut up! You know nothing! God, you're so fucking stupid!" Charlie exploded. He seized the young redhead's shoulders and shook her violently, screaming in her face.

The verbal abuse was nothing new to Casey. It hardly fazed her anymore. In fact, it made her even more determined to help Charlie overcome his mental illness.

"If you take the medicine that your psychiatrist prescribed-" Casey started to say.

"I SAID 'SHUT UP'!" Charlie yelled. He brought his palm to Casey's cheek and gave her an open-handed smack, sending her stumbling backwards in pain and shock.

Charlie's broken his fair share of things around the house during manic episodes. He's punched holes into the walls and shattered several vases, but he had never hit Casey before. Not until today. 

* * *

That same night, Charlie raped Casey. He pinned her wrists above her head and held her down, ignoring her cries, her pleas for him to stop. Then, he raped her over and over and over again, until he finally fell asleep on top of her.

Casey was in so much shock that she couldn't process what just happened to her. Instead, she wriggled out from under Charlie and bolted for the bathroom.

She slipped into the shower and turned the handle to the hottest setting. She had already been stripped naked by Charlie, so she just stepped into the shower when the water heated up.

As she stood in the steaming water, the reality of what Charlie did to her finally hit. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She pressed her back to the wall and slid to the shower floor. She grabbed a bar of soap and began to absentmindedly scrub herself. When she had scrubbed every single inch of skin, she rinsed away the soap, then scrubbed herself all over again. She was so focused on cleansing her body that she didn't even notice she was crying. Her tears just mixed with the steaming water spraying from her shower head.

The water ran cold before Casey left the shower.

She silently exited the bathroom and dressed her self in a fresh pair of underwear. She slipped into a faded pair of grey sweatpants and an oversized maroon t-shirt that read "Harvard Law School" across the front in white block letters. Her parents bought it for her when she was accepted into the school. They were so proud of their youngest child and only daughter for getting accepted into such a prestigious university. She wondered if they'd be proud of her right now. She doubted it. 

* * *

The next morning Casey was startled awake by a gently kiss on the lips. When she saw Charlie, she flinched violently and wanted to scream, but she managed to contain herself.

"Casey, I'm so sorry about last night. It's just...those voices in my head...I had to silence them. They needed to be released," Charlie told Casey. He gestured to the tray that he had placed on her nightstand. They was a steaming pile of freshly made waffles with a square of butter melting on the top. Maple syrup dripped down the sides of the waffles, making them sticky and sweet. A full glass of orange juice and a small cup of water was also on the tray. "Look! I even made you breakfast to show you how sorry I am! It's your favorite: waffles!" Charlie proudly in former her.

"Oh...Charlie..." Casey said hesitantly. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

"Casey, I promise to take all of my meds. I love you so much, and I will never hurt you like that ever again. Please...forgive me?" Charlie said desperately. He pulled a bottle of pills out of his pocket and showed it to her. It was the medicine that his psychiatrist prescribed for his schizophrenia. He took one pill out, popped it in his mouth, and picked up the small cup of water on the tray. With a big swig of water, he swallowed the pill. "See?" he said. He opened mouth to show that he had indeed taken the pill. "I'm going to get better, Casey. I promise," he told her.

And then, Casey made the biggest mistake of her life: she forgave Charlie because she believed that he would get better.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm not sure if I want to continue this (please let me know if you want me to!)...but if I do continue it, it'll probably be a shorter story. This takes place before the events of my other two stories: _Her Daughter_ and _Since You've Been Gone_. Thanks again for reading and please review!**


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